1. One of the two National Holidays is called "No" day (Oxi = "Ochi"). This single word was famously the defiant answer to the Axis' ultimatum, and that's the holiday we're celebrating today, with these 27 other beautiful things:
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| Agiou Dimitriou on the night of October 26th. |
2. Saints' Days.
3. Market - Much household shopping is done at farmers' markets. One day a week, a neighborhood street turns into a riot of beautiful fruits and vegetables, snapping crabs, and shimmering fish. Same vendors every week- we get to know each other.
4. More on neighborhoods- you're never anonymous. You could call it nosiness, but it's really about accountability, the honor of being part of a community.
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| The best Bougatsa in Athens is made by a man from Thessaloniki- on Solonos. |
5. Bougatsa - a warm dish of phyllo filled with sweet semolina cream, spinach, cheese, or spiced minced meat, served chopped into small pieces and eaten with a fork, a carton of chocolate milk on the side.
6. Greek Salad (here called "village salad'- "horiatiki"). Never gets old.
7. Boys walk with their arms around each other's shoulders, and girls hold hands.
8. Outdoor summer cinemas- jasmine in the night air, and whiskey on ice at the snack bar.
10. Promenade - dressing up for the evening stroll.
11. Ouzo on ice, cloudy white and just a little bit sweet.
12. Lots of nice rough dark wine never sees a glass bottle - it goes straight from casks to empty fanta bottles.
13. Same for Raki.
14. Malamatina and its iconic logo (!). Nothing's better with fried Bakaliaro and Skordalia.
15. Ion chocolate with almonds in its classic blossom - covered pink wrapper.
16. Goats on hillsides, with their tinkling brass bells.
17. Being able to follow a football match just by the shouting from cafes.
18. Ferries painted white with their rough blue decks.
19. Senior ladies travelling on the ferries with their birds!- They have them in tiny travel cages.
20. Small dogs so nobly carrying their ancient Greek names - Clytemnestra (a dachshund), and a chihuahua named Socrates.
21. Fat flakes of salt scraped from rocks by the sea.
22. The sound of the dice and tiles on wooden backgammon boards in the summer.
23. Old men arguing about politics.
24. Frappe.
25. Recycling centuries of beauty and grace - Church columns and their capitals taken from Roman ruins and other older structures, like these in Agiou Dimitriou.
27. Greek coffee, and the coppersmiths' Briki we use for it.
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| This man brought a tablecloth, transistor radio, and a split of Asti Martini (!), the better to enjoy an afternoon swim (on a Tuesday). |
28. Making the very most of every beautiful day.
What are some of your favorite things?
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